Llan-drow
Llan-drow are a subrace of Dark Elves. Physical Description *'Average height:' 180-200 cm for both males and females. *'Average weight:' 69-87 kg for males, 65-82 for females. *'Hair colour:' White or black. *'Eye colour:' Gray, blue or black. *'Skin colour:' Pale. *'Average lifespan:' Up to 300 years, reach physical maturity at 20-30 years. Facial features are smoother than humans', but a bit tougher than other elves, sometimes even sharp, though Llan-drow are closest to their non-dark cousins. Still, they have prominent cheekbones, often aquiline nose, thin lips, faint brow ridges and so on. Their ears are somewhat longer than other drows'. Like other elves, the can not grow facial hair. Distribution Evenly distributed among the Empire of Eberia, often found in other territories due to them trading in their unique commodity: Nanow, also known as Green Beer. Culture Settlements Tend to settle near lakes or hills in small villages, usually living by fishing, herding cattle, hunting and farming, as their ancestors did millenia ago. Some form bandit camps, often migrating from place to place. Some live in the cities built by other races, typically humans. Languages Simplan, Elven. Diet As is common for drow quisine, the food Llan-drow make is rather simple, and yet very satiating. The specific dishes can depend on the village, but since most of the villages take part in all kinds of activities, not just hunting, or just farming, this is rarely the case. Meat, fish, poultry, crops and fruit are common ingridients, wild game is usually more of a rarity. Their food doesn't use much spices, not even salt, only some locally grown herbs, such as garlic, dill, mint, etc. A common dish prepared for special occasions is some kind of a salad, often fruit or cheese one. Dairy plays important part in quisine too. Nanow Nanow, or Green Beer, is an alcoholic beverage uniquely produced by Llan-drow. As the name implies, it is similar to beer in almost every regard, but emerald-green in colour and has very interesting taste properties, that appear to be unique to a person drinking it, since those who tried to describe it never could agree on their descriptions. It possibly changes its taste even dependent on some other factor, possibly time. Some say it tastes differently depending on their mood. Despite the best effort of many people interested in replicating the recipe, it still eludes them. Llan-drow themselves are not willing to unfold their secret, and, apparently, most don't know it either anyway, even though pretty much every settlement, no matter how small, has a brewery. There were claims of magic involved in the process, which would explain why nobody was able to find the secret ingredient, and indeed this seems to be the case, since the beverage has a very faint magical aura surrounding it, but the specific spell is not known either. Some, however, say that it actually was an ingredient, just one that possess magical properties of its own, such as a magical herb or blood of a magical creature. Whatever the case is, Nanow, because of its unique properties, colourful appearance and relative cheapness is a very popular drink in a lot of taverns. Some of it is exported outside the Empire of Eberia, and some settlements are outside of it to begin with. Llan-drow themselves drink Nanow as well, however traditionally they don't drink it like beer, more like wine, in smaller portions. Industry, art and clothing Besides brewing Nanow, most Llan-drow settlements don't have their own industry. Some Llan-drow are smiths, but more are furriers and leatherworkers, getting their raw materials from hunting or farming. They make clothes, belts, pouches, bags, sheathes, harnesses, etc. The clothing they make is usually considered much more practical than decorative, since it's rather durable but isn't made with any sort of finesse. That doesn't mean they don't have unique style, however, putting small metal details and simple embroidery, usually in smooth shapes with sharp ends, akin to thorny plants. Their furs most often are used for crude cold weather gear as well, not for lining or decorating more stylish clothing. However, a lot of hunters sell the more precious furs they get outside. Those who stay in the settlements to farm usually wear a much simpler kind of clothing, even though leather is still often employed for, say, jackets or boots. Llan-drow clothing also usually involves items dyed red with madder they grow in their settlements. It could be anything from a shirt to a small patch. The origins of this tradition are somewhat foggy, but, supposedly, in ancient times this was a sign of having a blood of the paragons in your veins. Since then, apparently, nobody was left who wasn't related to their heroes of yore. Being very rural, Llan-drow communities usually do not produce any art, with the exception of the embroidery and metal detailing mentioned above. Sometimes you can find a woodcarver in the village, but that's often it. However, they excel in telling tales, usually tales of heroes from the past. Because they disagree with each other wildly, it's probably the case that none of them are actually true, and since they are passed orally, there is no way to check them against some sort of a written source. Interestingly, quite a few of Llan-drow still believe in the tales they tell and will contend that they are more accurate than others. It is a misconception that Llan-drow make jewelry. Most of them have no way to get the tools, training and materials necessary for that. The jewelry sold by some of the more shady among them is more than likely stolen either from other people or from ancient ruins. Gender roles, marriage, birth, death and community Like most other elves, Llan-drow are very neutral on the gender roles. Males and females have very little difference in their physical abilities and while females are a bit less muscular, this difference is less pronounced than in humans. In the settlements, females do tend to stay inside more, but that usually boils down to the need of taking care of the children. If the child is old enough to not require specifically his or her mother's attention, she can go out to hunt, trade or fish instead of her husband. Marriage is rather traditional in Llan-drow communities. There is a husband and a wife, they get married and raise children together. However, there is also a second type of "marriage", found in some other elven communities as well: if the purpose of the union is not related to raising children, the conditions may vary wildly. This bond, called "saeellen", can be about anything, from intercourse to business partnership and can involve any number of drow, although typically it's a small tight group, no more than half a dozen (and usually two or three). It has very little to do with the typical marriage, but the traditions surrounding it are, for some reason, very similar. The members exchange some items that are then worn by them (these could be rings, but could be other kinds of jewelry, or clothing, or even tattoos that are made by the members), they usually have some sort of a small celebration, commonly receive some gifts, etc. The members of a saeellen typically have at least some sort of attraction towards each other, and even if their stated primary goal is something else, like business, they might expect intercourse as a "side benefit". The main thing that separates saeellen from marriage (actually called "lenteen" among elves) is that the second one has the expressed purpose of raising children. Childbirth is considered a big event among Llan-drow. The head of the settlement personally has to see every child, no matter who the parents are, in at most a day after the birth. Otherwise, if there was no good reason for his or her abscence, it is considered a sign of great disrespect and may even cost the head their position, with next in line getting the hearts of the people to their side. Birthdays are actually counted from the moment of this visit, so they may not necessarily be on the day of the actual birth. The head also gives the child its name, although parents (and everyone else) are free to offer their ideas. To get the name, a child has to lose blood, in memory of all the warriors of the past. Usually, it's no more than one drop from a carefully made cut or prick. This drop is used to stain a small white patch, which becomes the first piece of red clothing the child wears. Llan-drow who manage to keep their first blood for a long time are considered to be rather lucky. After this, a big feast is held. The dead are either buried in the mounds, if they were of any significant importance, or drowned in lakes. The ceremony itself is small, but the traditional feast afterwards can held as many drow as would like to appear. It is called "the silent feast", not because nobody is allowed to speak in general, but because every sentence, even as trivial as asking someone to pass something else should come back to the deceased, such as remembering how he or she like or hated this particular dish in life. Traditional laws As other dark elves, Llan-drow are somewhat disrespectful of most laws, but they have a very nasty reputation of ignoring them even more than others. This applies much less to the laws of the Llan-drow themselves, simple and vague as they might be, but even the traditions of other elves are commonly held with no respect at all. A lot of the marauders pillaging ancient elven ruins and crypts are Llan-drow – they see no reason to not do as such. Similarly, quite a few Llan-drow can be found among bandits and brigands, not necessarily, but often holding the positions of power, if not as the leader, then as "the right hand" or as one of the advisors.Their combat prowess and intimidating appearance, as well as sharp mind and lack of any respect for the law, all contribute to stepping onto this path. Some say that this is because Llan-drow do not grasp the concept of private property, or believe that everyone should possess roughly equal amounts of wealth, but this is apparently not the case. They understand it perfectly and mostly adhere to it among their own, but they do not think the same should apply to the one who can not protect it. If a rich person gets robbed, it's their fault for not being careful enough, or hiring more guards, or learning to protect themselves. This is why they are perfectly happy to trade with those they can't take on, but would rob them blind if the situation was any different. To them, there is, indeed, "nothing personal" about it. Of course, far from all Llan-drow share this view, otherwise they would all be bandits, which is obviously not the case. Most of them believe in a somewhat tamer version of this principle, which basically doesn't "require" one to take advantage of the situation, but doesn't explicitly prohibit it either. The difference being consequences, and for creatures as long-lived as drow the consequences they think of might be very alien to what a more short-lived race, such as humans, would consider. In any situation where there is a difference of opinions severe enough to produce a conflict, the head of the settlement is asked to resolve it. It might seem like a very demanding job, but it is almost the only thing the head does: all other responsibilities are distributed among other members of the community, so the head acts more as a guide, a universal advisor. Obviously, this would require a lot of very different fields of knowledge, so the heads are usually the eldest members of the community, i.e. the ones who had enough time to learn as much as they could. The head is never judged for a failed advice, only for a sign of disrespect to someone who he or she is supposed to help. If this becomes public knowledge, it can be a very real possibility that another head will be chosen by the community. Interestingly, there is nothing that can be classified as taxes in Llan-drow communities. Anything that requires money or resources from the community is supposedly performed exclusively voluntarily, as a donation. The collection can employ any kind of persuasion, but no force. The most common tactic used is denying access to whatever the project was to the ones who did not participate. Thus, the dark elves believe, only those who need something will pay for it, and nobody else. Traditional beliefs To be described later. Realtionships with other cultures Llan-drow are probably the most peaceful of all the drows, or, at least, are the least likely to start any kind of major conflict (if we to exclude the bandit raids). They gladly trade with whomever they can come across in their neighborhood. The only thing that will more than likely result in violence is a territorial conflict: Llan-drow will never move their settlements on their own volition, at least until they have a similar place somewhere else and a charitable compensation, which is rarely how this goes. Common names To be described later. Reasons for adventuring While a lot of Llan-drow live rather mundane lives, quite a few leave their settlements to try their luck somewhere else. Some become bandits, brigands, marauders, crypt-robbers and other low-lifes, but this kind of life is not well-suited for people whose life can be measured in centuries – many have described how, at one point or another, they understood that sooner or later death would catch up to them and far sooner that they wanted. After that, some return home or try to settle in the cities, but others just pick a different way, a way where, at the very least, they have a better chance of achieving something more glorious than robbing travelling merchants. Of course, there are those who leave to become adventurers in the first place – their talents are just as useful, if a bit less unique, in this field. Sometimes one can even find the entire groups of Llan-drow travelling together, bound by saeellen. Another common occurence are siblings being a part of the same group, and if that's the case, nobody should ever try to separate them, not even by death. Stereotypical traits Like other drow, Llan-drow are often feared and misunderstood, even by other elves, and this reputation is not entirely unfounded. However, as is usually the case with stereotypes, they are not entirely and universally correct either. The amount of truly dangerous individuals amongst them is more than likely not different from any other race, but their general outlook on life stemming from their culture makes a lot of people uncomfortable, and it is not helped by their common demeanor. Despite the intimidating appearance and the name "dark" elves, there are those who follow the path of Light. Culture of the dark elves is based on the idea of complete moral and physical freedom, which sometimes leads to conflicts with other civilizations. Furthermore, they obviously do not like to comply with the laws and rules of others. Like other elves, dark elves prefer to grow long hair, and Llan-drow are not the exception. Sometimes they decorate their hair with braids and small ribbons, usually red. This is typically done by those who do not engage in mundane physical activities. Drow are supposedly excellent fighters, even if they do not have the power of orcs or agility of halflings: their fast movements look as if blurred, and their extremely accurate strikes are deadly.